TAIPEI, Feb 9 Citigroup C.N has reached a breakthrough in its talks to acquire Ta

TAIPEI, Feb 9 (Reuters) Citigroup has reached a breakthrough in its talks to acquire Taiwan's Bank of Overseas Chinese , a deal that would be worth about T$14.2 billion, ($430 million), local media reported on Friday.

Citigroup reached the breakthrough with BOOC's major stakeholder, Polaris Group, and hopes to pay about T$11.90 per share for BOOC, the Economic Daily reported, without citing sources.

''We are in discussions and while there has not yet been a breakthrough, things are moving very quickly,'' BOOC spokesman Weng Chien told Reuters.

He said he could not confirm any details such as pricing, but that Citigroup is hoping to acquire 100 percent of BOOC.

A Citigroup spokeswoman in Taiwan was not immediately available for comment. According to the Economic Daily article, the two sides settled the merger on Thursday, and will soon apply to the government for Citigroup to acquire BOOC as a foreign company.

The initially agreed on price is T$11.90 per share, but Citigroup is still hoping to shave T$0.10 to T$0.20 off that, the newspaper reported.

BOOC shares initially opened higher on Friday, but were down 0.46 percent at T$10.85 at 0152 GMT.

The talks between Citigroup and BOOC have dragged on since last year, with local media reporting as recently as October that talks were in an advanced stage.

A slew of foreign banks, including Standard Chartered have been on a recent buying binge for Taiwan banks, looking to get values in the island's troubled financial sector.

Last year Standard Chartered bought Hsinchu International Bank for US$1.2 billion, or for a 31 percent premium over the local lender's closing price before the deal was announced.

REUTERS DKS PM0800